Category Archives: #MathsRocks

Hey all! Hope you have had a wonderfully refreshing summer. Had a little break from publishing #MathsRocks posts but going to get back into it for a bit. Hoping to share some more wonderful Maths ideas at #MathsRocks but we are nothing without your brilliant sharing of ideas. So please share #MathsRocks and hopefully we’ll have some excellent things to share! Share, share, share!

1. Maths Working Wall

To kick off the new school year, we had to share this from @Primary5Teach and I can’t believe we haven’t included this yet!

These are just two examples of her excellent working walls. If each classroom had something like this, then wall space would be used usefully. It would be a good idea to at least look at the sections on these working walls and try and implement some in your learning areas. Nothing more to say really, the visual brilliance of these walls speak for themselves!

2. Resourceaholic

It just shows just how much is out there to make the teaching and learning of Maths that much easier! Here is a website with bundles (literally) of resources to make Maths more visual and engaging! Thanks to @mathsjem for sharing this one from @nikki_nzmartin.

There is actually more resources than the one mentioned from the site – which is called resourcaholic. It is primarily aimed at secondary maths but there are plenty of Primary Maths resources also.

It’s the holidays!! Hope you all have a nice, relaxing break planned – or nothing planned at all! Either way, read on for some relaxing Maths ideas which will engage your learners and make Maths rock!

1. Classic Top Trumps – F/D/P

Last time, we shared a great entry by @misslkfidler where the children learnt about fraction, decimal and percentage equivalents using the game ‘Go Fish’. This week, another way to practise and learn essential maths facts, like these equivalences. Top Trumps is a classroom classic and this twist on the Top Trumps with fractions, decimals and percentages is a great idea!

Conversion of metric units can cause great confusion. Some sort of visual support initially will support learning in the class. Of course they will not be able to use these beyond the classroom but any amount of support and visualisation will help.

That’s your lot for this week! Have a wonderful break and good luck for Summer 2!

Hope all of you are enjoying another exciting week. Of course, for those Year 6 teachers of us you will be having a ‘testing’ week but I’m hoping your first day at the SATs with the children has been a positive experience! Enjoy losing yourself in the wonderful Maths ideas and problems!

1. Which One Doesn’t Belong?

Want a reasoning resource with a difference? http://wodb.ca/ gives you that!
There is a big push towards developing children’s reasoning, including giving problems that have been solved slightly incorrectly and you have to find the error. Well, this website is different. It presents different sets of numbers, shapes and other objects. Children are required to select one of the options and reason why that one doesn’t belong. Simple right 🙂 but effective. Thank you to @Mister_Hubbard for sharing!

2. “Go Fish!”

I loved this idea by @misslkfidler. Great idea to use for fraction/decimal/percentage equivalence but this could work for a number of concepts also – such as ratios, types of shapes and so on. Here’s the picture…

3. Maths Starter for a Day

@7puzzle shared this idea which was brought to #MathsRocks attention by @MrBramley25. One day this can be a quick problem to get brains into gear:

Your task is to arrive at the target answer of 18 by using each of the four numbers 2, 6, 7, and 10 exactly once each and with + – × ÷ available.

Another great idea from this share is where you use the digits in the date (such as 1, 4, 0, 5, 2, 0, 1 and 8 from today) and try to get the closest to 100 using the four operations.

Enjoy the rest of your week – share on #MathsRocks, and good luch for the rest of this SATs week.!

Here we are a couple of weeks into the new term! Hope all is going well! You have a wonderful Bank Holiday to look forward to next week also so it is all looking rosy :). Now, here is your regular dose of #MathsRocks ideas and problems to try out in the classroom.

1. Maths Bags for Home

This idea hits home (quite literally) for me. I have a 5 year old son and he is struggling with his Maths. One of the problems we have as a young family with two young children is finding the time to gather (and keep together) quality resources. @nurserycrookfur have shared a great Maths set that they send home which was shared by @CrookfurPC.

This is just one example of a great idea which I’m sure many schools are doing but it’s a classic worth sharing. In Year 6 we do something similar but with more appropriate material – revision packs, times tables…some homes may not use them but I’m sure many would appreciate it.

2. More CPA examples

Another great share by @crisp_aholic. The concrete-pictorial-abstract (CPA) is very much a focus now in general maths education, particularly those with a mastery approach. As such, it is always great to see practical ideas, like this one:

One great suggestion with this idea is asking children to come and draw their own examples and there you have fantastic discussion potential just from that exercise.

3. Dojo Problem

And finally, as we like on #MathsRocks, a little problem for you to try. Many of you will have heard of @classdojo and they make an appearance with this great problem shared by @busyteacher247. Not much explanation is needed – just have a go and share it with your class:

Have a great couple of weeks! Don’t forget to share your Maths ideas and suggestions on the #MathsRocks hashtag!

Oh and finally, we couldn’t let this one go without a mention by @Miss_B35, shared by @crisp_aholic…

Hello all!! Here it is again – your fortnightly boost of Maths teaching ideas and suggestions! Everyone will be back at school by now – hope Summer 1 has had an excellent start! Here is this week’s ideas:

1. Food Maths!

I love food! I love Maths. Check out this wonderful idea by @J0H00K and shared by @Mister_Hubbard:

Maths is everywhere around us. The children sometimes do not recognise this and just how much Maths has an impact on them – even the food they eat! It would be great to see any more Food Arrays or just #FoodMaths in general that you see. Here is mine:

2. KS2 teaching Early Years

A great entry from @grove_road was shared. They had a #mathsrocks day!! Exciting or what!?? Would love to hear what else they did that day! Anyway, they shared a wonderful idea where their KS2 children went to the Early Years to support the younger children in creating brilliant number lines.

What I love about the idea of older children teaching others is their depth of understanding MUST be on point. Some training will be required but when they then go to try and teach others with a weaker knowledge they will inevitably be asked questions – and they will need to answer. However, they will quickly learn they have to be clear with their explanations…

3. The Golden Cube Problem

We like to finish with a problem for you to try in the classroom. This one, shared by @Mroberts90Matt, is aimed mainly at Year 6’s who are grasping the concept of volume. This gets them to think about the number of cubes in each layer, the actual volume and a practical context where the deconstruct a 3D object. That’s enough from me – have a go yourself!

We hope you find at least one of these ideas or challenges useful – try them out! Even better, if you have another idea you have tried in your classroom, please share with the #MathsRocks hashtag so others can benefit!

It’s Easter Break! What a great time to find out some more Maths ideas and creative resources to get ready for Spring 2! Read on for some excellent, innovative things to try in your classroom!

1. Academy Enterprise Trust (AET) Schemes of Learning

A few people worked together in discussion to bring this to #MathsRocks attention. @LeanneShawAHS asked the question of what resources are out there to support her very weak Year 7 group in Maths – working at KS1 ability. @SchoolLeader3 directed a response towards @AETmaths who have produced a very meaty, detailed set of Maths plans and discussion points. This collection of schemes of work are extremely useful! There is a lot to digest which will enhance your Mathematics teaching. I think it can sometimes be a little TOO much to follow and would use it in conjunction with another scheme, such as White Rose, but this would be an invaluable resource to use.
Let us know what you think – see the link here: https://sites.google.com/aetinet.org/curriculum/home-toolkit/curriculum?authuser=0

2. NCETM Primary Mastery PD Materials

The NCETM have been developing a collection of PD materials to support teachers in delivering a mastery curriculum. They are currently up to having completed Year 1 and part of Year 2 for ‘Number, Addition and Subtraction’ and that has taken since September 2017 so it will take some time to complete. However, they are excellent to share with teachers teaching any part of the Maths Curriculum. There are videos, presentations and pdfs to break down each point so each practitioner should come away enabled to teach fundamental concepts more confidently and efficiently. The link is here: https://www.ncetm.org.uk/resources/50640

3. Goldbach’s Conjecture

@inspiringmaths shared this great problem for your class to discuss.

Credit goes to @MrBramley25 for sharing this with #MathsRocks. And now you get to try it! Share it with your class and see what discussions ensue!

Good Monday all! Hoping in the midst of Spring 2 you are all doing well and the excitement of this wonderful job you have is not overwhelming you! Not to mention the opportunity you have to teach Maths to eager young minds 🙂 here are some ideas and resources to help you out!

1. Multiplication Tables Check Letter

Hopefully the news from over a month ago (although let’s be fair, this has been announced for quite a while now…) that there will be a multiplication tables check has settled in with you. Anyway, #MathsRocks is not here to debate and discuss the ins and outs of it. However, we are here to signpost you towards a really useful resource by @TTRockStars to inform your parents about it. The great thing is that it is completely editable – there is a lot of information there and some may or may not be as important in your school’s opinion. So, you can adapt it and use it very quickly. Here’s the link: https://ttrockstars.com/page/mtc

2. Mastering Manipulatives

Being a Year 6 teacher, I don’t tend to reach for the concrete resources. Up until this year I didn’t really use many pictorial examples in my teaching. Not good, I know. Anyway, seeing this setup by @MissJ_2801 has inspired me to do something similar:

I suppose the ideal would be that all children will be given the opportunity that this great practitioner has given her class in every class they go into. If children are given the chance to access manipulatives in their Maths learning consistently, then hopefully they will be more confident selecting them in later Maths problems to assist them in reasoning and solving.
It doesn’t really matter how you get the concrete resources into the children’s hands – but they must have access to them.

3. Make It – Draw It – Abstract ‘Trick’

I love this idea by @crisp_aholic. We are being bombarded by the ‘Concrete-Pictorial-Abstract’ approach by a number of sources and for good reason. As such, this great #MathsRocker has been encouraging their class to not only be taught in this approach, but also to create their own examples in this process:

What is great about this is that the children do get to experience the Maths physically for themselves. This learning process then moves to a pictorial stage which they will find useful to structure themselves when they come across unfamiliar contexts where they can try to use those same skills to understand what is being asked. On top of this, the children can then begin to learn useful tricks which can make them more fluent in calculations. There is nothing wrong with children learning tricks (such as “divide by the bottom, times by the top”) but ONLY if they understand the Maths behind it. In other words, why are they dividing by the denominator (because it helps them find the unit fraction of the amount they are looking for and so on). If the understanding of the Maths is founded on concrete experiences and pictorial manipulation then they are more likely to understand why the abstract tricks apply and remember them more.
Try it out soon – Make-Draw-Trick.

Hopefully there will be one #MathsRocks share here that will be useful in the coming weeks – please try them out and share your own great Maths classroom practice with the hashtag #MathsRocks!

We have finally entered the month of March and so begins the eventual march to the first day of Spring! So excited! Whilst you wait for the light to return to your evenings, feast your eyes on these wonderful Maths ideas and suggestions.

1. Cracking Concrete Collection

Isn’t this beautiful? I saw this and was immediately impressed. As teachers we have to always be finding ways to reinforce mathematical concepts for children. This great collection shared by @MrJ_Primary provides most manipulatives that children need to access in order to explore many maths concepts. He feels that it will support the concrete-pictorial-abstract approach in his school? Do you see anything missing? Anything worth adding or taking away from the box? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated on #MathsRocks!

2. Enter Vocabulary Ninja!

Many tweechers will be familiar with @VocabularyNinja and their work! Our vocabulary work has developed with their readily available, adventurous words that are put into a ready made context. Well, the excellence is spreading to other subjects. There have been a number of topic based vocabulary lists produced – and now Maths has been given the ninja treatment!

For £3.49 you receive a 10 sheet multi-pack which are crammed with all mathematical knowledge they will need for the SATs to recall. There are spaces for them to fill blanks in to engage with the content and this pack will be an extremely useful revision tool. Take a look!

3. Clocking Off Time…

As always at #MathsRocks we like to include one challenge that you can use with your class. This week the challenge has been given by @MissSDoherty and focuses on the digital clock. Children need to be familiar with the digital clock and the times that will appear on it. Here is the question:

If you try this challenge in your class it would be great to hear the methods and approaches the children take to solve this problem.

Enjoy the beginning of March – one more #MathsRocks Round Up and then it’s the Easter holidays! Don’t wish it away – make a difference to one child’s day!

Welcome back after another half term and here we are embarking on Spring 2! Lighter mornings, going home when it’s not dark – looking forward to summer. And of course another #MathsRocks round up! Let’s do this!

1. Number Day 2018!

This great idea was brought up by @lea_forest_dht. Friday 2nd February was Number Day driven by the @NSPCC. It seems like a great idea where Maths activities can take centre stage, Maths can get everyone involved and even the odd dressing up event also. Unfortunately the day has passed but it may be worthwhile pencilling in to look this up December-time so the preparations can begin.

2. Gary Hall Resources

Wondering where to begin resourcing lessons for Maths? @leah_moo highlighted a great website where every curriculum objective is linked to a number of potential sources or resources to use for Years 1-6. It’s very much worth bookmarking this on your laptop so that when you are planning you can quickly refer to this. Not only are there unique resources to use but there are the occasional links to other activities such as on nRich and NCETM so it will hopefully challenge all your learners as well! See the link below:

And finally, here at #MathsRocks the majority of things we share are great resource ideas or ways to enhance your mathematics teaching in the classroom. However we occasionally like to give you a challenge to solve yourself and this time we have one from @Mister_Hubbard which (I’ll be honest with you) will take some time and patience for you to solve. He has also provided a solution which I will post at the bottom of this #MathsRocks Round Up…happy number crunching!

Please don’t forget to share any great Maths ideas, resources, displays, lessons, manipulatives, challenges…and so on to #MathsRocks on Twitter. There are more and more items being shared and it’s really appreciated! Please share the @MathsRocks_2 handle as well so more can join the Maths fun!

Welcome again to another #MathsRocks Round Up – where you can find useful ideas for teaching Primary Maths! Let’s jump straight in – and guess what, one more week until another break. You can do it!

1. Books to inspire Maths

Recently on #PrimaryRocks there was a wonderful focus on Maths. It was a magical, mathematical evening! One of the questions was a great one – what books do teachers use to inspire and generate discussion on Maths? It was incredible but a little overwhelming to see the replies flowing in. Fortunately @Mister_Hubbard who led the discussion has collected the suggestions and they can be found here on an editable document – link here

2. Visual fraction games

Spring term is a wonderful time of year where Fractions are often on the agenda for a number of year groups. The question is – how do we make fractions engaging, purposeful and give the children a wide variety of models to interact with? @MissSDoherty shared a wonderful, eye-catching activity where children had to sort a variety of 1/2, 1/3 and 1/4 models as a group. This allows them to see how one example of a 1/3 can look different to another but still indicate a 1/3 also!

In a similar vein to this, at our school (@Mroberts90Matt) to round off our Fractions unit in Year 6, we created a fraction game. This game was based on the @nrichmaths activity found here: https://nrich.maths.org/8283

The game requires children to understand different ways of representing fractions and matching equivalent proportions. They were then able to go to various Year 3 and 4 classes to have to explain and teach how to play this game. Not only does this requite a secure grasp of equivalent fractions but also explain it to younger children.

3. Curriculum Mapping Tools (nRich and NCETM)

You may or may not already know about this incredibly useful tool but nonetheless it is absolutely worth a share!

@goulds_mr drew attention to the @nrichmaths one first on #MathsRocks but whilst we mention it we may as well draw attention to the @NCETM version also. @nrichmaths and @NCETM are absolute gifts to any Primary Maths teacher. They take the concepts and provide deeper problem solving challenges which will stretch and challenge all children of any ability. However, the difficulty in using these sites is that it can sometimes be a challenge finding the right activity. These guides that nRich and NCETM provide solve that issue, allowing teachers to pinpoint the activities they need.